Honors College Research

Honors Research

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By Jessica DeLeón

As University of North Texas Honors College senior Corina Gomez searched
for a thesis topic in her Philosophy of Water class, she turned to her teacher, Irene Klaver, for inspiration.

Honors College senior Corina Gomez, left, was inspired by Irene Klaver, professor of philosophy
and religion studies and director of the Philosophy of Water Project, to investigate the effects
of the Trinity River beautification project on the residents of Dallas’ Oak Cliff neighborhood.
The Honors Research Track pairs students with faculty mentors.

Photo by: Jonathan Reynolds

Klaver, professor of philosophy and religion studies and director of the
Philosophy of Water Project, suggested that Gomez, whose parents are from
Mexico, look at how the Latino population has been affected by water issues.
“I never thought about the issue that way,” Gomez says.

The topic — in which Gomez examined how Dallas’ beautification of the
Trinity River affected residents of the city’s Oak Cliff neighborhood — proved to be
a good choice. She presented her findings with other undergraduates at the annual
University Scholars Day, and her paper was published in The Eagle Feather, the
annual research journal of the Honors College.

Gomez is just one of many Honors College students who are guided by faculty
mentors in their research — a requirement of the Honors Research Track. Thanks
to UNT’s professors, students have participated in research projects from beginning
to end and gotten a head start on their future careers.

“Honors College students are talented, accomplished and motivated. They are
seeking the best academic and intellectual experience,” Honors College Dean Gloria Cox says. “We believe that opportunities to acquire research skills and
engage in scholarly work in their discipline are essential components
of that experience.”

Water Issues

Gomez learned about the social, cultural and environmental
effects of water in Klaver’s class. She says she was inspired by Klaver’s
involvement in water issues, including her position as European
ambassador for water and cultural diversity for the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

“She just works constantly to make things better,” Gomez says.
In suggesting Gomez’s thesis topic, Klaver noted that when cities
beautify rivers and waterways, the surrounding land often becomes
more valuable, drawing in people with higher incomes and affecting
longtime residents — in the complex process known as gentrification.

Gomez pored over newspaper reports and property values to
study the impact of the Trinity River Corridor Project in Oak Cliff —
once considered a “rough” neighborhood and now one of the hipper
communities of Dallas.

She found that property values did not increase as much as she
thought they would, but some businesses may have been affected
negatively. For instance, the owner of a botanica, selling medicinal
herbs and religious items to the Latino community, worried he would
have to change locations after his neighbors were offered money to
move away.

Klaver noted that Gomez’s interest in water issues has included
recruiting students to clean up a Denton creek as part of a Stream
Clean event sponsored by Keep Denton Beautiful. Gomez volunteers
each semester as part of the requirements of her UNT Multicultural
Scholastic Award.

“She hears about issues, researches them and creates an informed
plan of action,” Klaver says.

After she graduates in the spring, Gomez hopes to pursue a master’s
and law degree in environmental policy.

“I feel like I will make a difference through the work that I do,”
she says.

Breakthrough Drugs

Clifford Morrison and Robby Petros, assistant professor
of chemistry, work on a better process for synthesizing therapeutic molecules.

Photo by: Jonathan Reynolds

Robby Petros, assistant professor of chemistry, told Clifford
Morrison that if his research didn’t go the way he thought it would,
he could learn from it. In fact, they may have stumbled on a molecule
that could help develop other drugs.

“We just opened the door for something new and exciting,” says
Morrison, a senior majoring in chemistry and biochemistry.

Morrison and Petros were investigating a process for synthesizing
a prodrug form of the molecule Sunitinib, which can keep pancreatic
cancer tumors from easily bringing in new blood vessels to support
their growth. Prodrugs are inactive compounds that, when introduced
to the body, can turn into medicinal drugs.

But along the way, the researchers found a better way to synthesize
another type of molecule, medium-ring diaza heterocycles, than
had previously been reported.

“Instead of just synthesizing one therapeutic molecule, we are
hoping this synthetic process could lead to a variety of therapeutic
molecules that could each potentially serve a different purpose,”
Morrison says. “These could be the next cancer cure, the next aspirin,
the next useful medicine.”

As a McNair Scholar, Morrison logged 400 hours of work in
Petros’ lab over the summer, and he served as president of Alpha Chi
Sigma, the professional chemistry fraternity, and as a peer mentor for
chemistry students. He also has earned a Terry Scholarship and is
part of the Emerald Eagle Scholars Program.

Morrison plans to pursue a doctorate after he graduates in 2014
and a career in metabolic engineering. Petros believes Morrison has
the right characteristics for that field.

“He is very persistent,” Petros says. “That’s one of the major
traits you need to be a researcher.”

Binge Drinking

“We don’t just collect data. We participate in every step of the research process.”
— Alexandra Ruuska, junior psychology and biology major in the UNT Honors College

Junior psychology and biology major Alexandra Ruuska’s thesis
began with an email that “proved to be a golden ticket.”

Cox sent out a list of research opportunities that included a
project with Victor Prybutok, Regents Professor of decision sciences,
about how effective three videos with varying presentation styles —
comic, serious and informational — were in persuading students not
to engage in binge drinking. Ruuska was eager to work on a study
from inception to publication.

“We don’t just collect data,” she says. “We participate in every
step of the research process.”

The study, conducted under the guidance of Prybutok and
his wife, Gayle Prybutok, a doctoral student in the College of Information, examined how likely students were to change their
drinking behavior or share a particular video with friends.

Ruuska will use the data for her Honors College thesis, specifically
comparing Honors College students to non-Honors College students.
Mark Vosvick, associate professor of psychology and director
of the Center for Psychosocial Health Research, where Ruuska is an
undergraduate research assistant, is mentoring her for that study.

Ruuska reviewed the existing literature on college binge
drinking, chose the videos and obtained the approval of the
UNT Institutional Review Board, which authorizes all studies
at UNT that involve human subjects. She also recruited 560
participants.

“There’s an intellectual curiosity and alertness that makes
her unique,” Prybutok says. “She works hard.”

Ruuska, an aspiring psychiatrist, is presenting her findings at
the Southwest Business Decisions Institute regional conference.

“The ivory tower casts a big shadow, but once you walk up
to it with all its standards in mind, it’s not as daunting as it once
appeared,” she says.

Developmental Physiology

Junior biology major Camilla Smith always has been a go-getter.
She volunteered to help Dane Crossley, assistant professor
of biological sciences, in his developmental physiology laboratory
and he later agreed to mentor her for her Honors College thesis.
“She’s committed and she’s interested in the outcome of the
research and the day-to-day work,” Crossley says.

Smith will be examining how different incubation conditions
affect alligators’ growth, development and metabolic rate
after they hatch. In particular, she will examine if oxygen consumption
changes because of incubation conditions. Because the
work may apply to vertebrates as a whole, it could lead to a better
understanding of human diseases attributed to stress during fetal
development. Smith will finish gathering the data this spring and
plans to write her thesis this summer.

She previously worked with a research team from the study
abroad organization The School of Field Studies, tagging and
taking genetic samples of sharks in Turks and Caicos. As a freshman,
she produced an informational booklet about bats while
interning at the Houston Zoo.

That experience inspired her interest in conservation. Smith
hopes to pursue a doctorate in marine biology with a specialty
in shark biology and eventually work with animals at a zoo or
aquarium. She says she appreciates Crossley’s patience, especially
since she asks so many questions.

“I hope this project will give me the education, experience
and skills I will need not only to get into graduate school, but also
to be successful there and in my future career,” she says.

HONORS COLLEGE

Research with faculty mentors is just one of
many elements of the UNT Honors College
experience. The college, which with an enrollment
of 1,900 is the largest in the Dallas-Fort
Worth area, is open to students with a high
grade point average, class rank and SAT score.
They take challenging courses and can choose
to live in Honors Hall, a residence hall reserved
for Honors College students.

Those who choose to participate in the
research track may present their findings at conferences
and at University Scholars Day in the
spring, or be published in The Eagle Feather, the
college’s annual journal, which celebrated its
10th issue in fall 2013.

Dean Gloria Cox notes that most Honors
College students are committed to attending a
graduate or professional school, and undergraduate
research experience is vital to their success.
The students also become candidates for major
national and international awards.

But Cox says the Honors College does
much more than prepare students for graduate
study and career development.

“Honors College students take with them
from UNT a fine academic record and a great
intellectual experience, which are rewards in
themselves,” she says, “and go out to realize
their hopes and dreams.”

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